Aerial Search Begun for Missing Airplane
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RIVERSIDE COUNTY — More than 20 Civil Air Patrol planes joined a search in rural Riverside County on Monday for a small airplane with two on board that vanished on Christmas.
The two-seat Piper Cherokee took off from Ramona Airport on Friday bound for Chiriaco Summit, northeast of the Salton Sea, Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman Nancy Brady said.
A relative of one of the people aboard the plane contacted the Federal Aviation Administration after the aircraft failed to arrive as scheduled Friday.
Twenty-three Civil Air Patrol planes, aided by San Diego County sheriff’s helicopters, ended a daylong hunt for the plane at nightfall Monday.
The searchers flew a total of more than 100 hours Monday and were to resume the search this morning, officials said.
The search started Sunday afternoon.
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